#philip townsend

[omg-hellgirl]

Mick Jagger in the early 60s photographed by Philip Townsend.

[therobertfrasergang]

Philip Townsend on Robert Fraser

From 2Stoned, by Andrew Loog Oldham (2003):

Philip Townsend was a photographer in the 1960s, taking the first official photographs of The Rolling Stones, thanks to his friendship with Andrew Loog Oldham. In Oldham's book he talks about Robert Fraser:

Mick, Brian and, to a lesser extent, Keith could now achieve their need to mix with the nobs. Up to now old money had kept themselves to themselves, but now they were bored and needed entertaining and the new rock stars could provide all they needed — and the drugs as well. The main go-between was a rich, stupid, gay and untalented twit called Robert Fraser. He was an art and drug dealer with an address book full of the same kind of people as him. He soon became the Beatles’ and the Stones’ best friend. While he was the son of a self-made banker he had wormed his way into the old money crowd.

The first time I met Robert was in Ireland when he was chaperoning Mick, Keith, Marianne Faithfull and Anita Pallenberg at Desmond Guinness’s superb Georgian castle, Leixlip, near Dublin. Mick and Marianne were lording around the grounds like the old money Mick was not. It was amazing how quickly he laundered himself from a terraced house in Dartford to a very large castle in Ireland. It had taken the Guinnesses a hundred and fifty years to achieve the same transformation. It took Mick fifteen months.

One wonders if the feeling was mutual.

[rollingstonesdata]

MAY 4 1963: THE ROLLING STONES' FIRST OFFICIAL PHOTO SHOOT

[ludmilachaibemachado]

Swinging London, 1968❤️🇬🇧

British model Diane McLeod on a fashion shoot, outside the Mermaid Theatre, London in 1968. Photo by Philip Townsend❤️🇬🇧

Via @isabelfutre on Instagram🇬🇧

[justdonotaskmewhy]

The Crown fact-checked. Part 1/60

Before we begin I have to say a few words:

I understand that The Crown is a work of fiction and my goal is not to say "It's all lies!", we know it is full of stuff that has never happened, I just want to "do my own research" and see which facts were changed

I will try to be as unbiased as I possibly can. I can't promise you will like my stuff or agree with me, but my thoughts are just my thoughts, you can always decide for yourself

This being said, let's start our journey

Season 1. Episode 1. Wolferton Splash

King George's VI illness

The Crown's opening scene is that of the king spitting blood and coughing heavily. This theme of illness is recurring for the rest of the episode.

King George VI was a heavy smoker. The cigarettes were rather cheap after war and it is no wonder he developed such an unhealthy habit. Note: i phrased it badly but he started smoking much earlier than after the war ended, the cigarettes were just cheaper so it was even easier for him to get access to smoking.

Due to his smoking he had a lung cancer and coronary artery disease. Both of his illnesses appeared in the series.

2. Prince Philip renounces his royal titles

The series is true to the reality here. On the eve of his wedding to princess Elizabeth Prince Philip renounced his "foreign titles" of Greece and Denmark and was styled as "His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh,  Earl of Merioneth, and Baron Greenwich of Greenwich in the County of London"

3. King stutters

It is no surprise to anyone who has ever watched "The King's Speech". King George stuttered ever since he was a child and attended speech therapy to get rid of it. He almost get rid of it and it is hard to notice it in his public speeches. You can listen to this if you're interested, the real speech King George VI delivered on September 3rd, 1939 addressing Britain's involvement in World War II.

4. Prince Philip gave up smoking because princess Elizabeth couldn't stand it

As any loving daughter would be, princess Elizabeth was preoccupied by her father's health. Seeing that smoking did not do him any good, she insisted prince Philip should give up the habit. He did and some sources state he didn't smoke once after his wedding day.

5. Limericks

As fun as it may sound the king was fond of dirty limericks. However The Crown faced a controversy as the king says the word "cunt" in the opening episode.

The full limerick is as follows:

There was an old Countess of Bray,

And you might think it odd when I say,

That despite her high station, rank and education.

She always spelled "Cunt" with a K!

6. Princess Margaret at princess Elizabeth's wedding

Princess Margaret was one of princess Elizabeth's bridesmaids. However she was shorter than her sister (Elizabeth was 163 cm tall, Princess Margaret was 155 cm).

7. Winston Churchill at princess Elizabeth's wedding. I Vow To Thee My Country

He and his wife attended the wedding and, in fact, caused a "false alarm" of applause by their arrival as everyone thought it was the princess who was cheered with such an enthusiasm.

However I Vow To Thee My Country apparently never played upon his arrival. But This song is indeed regarded as synonymous with Churchill, and it played at his funeral.

8. Hatred towards Mountbattens

Lord Louis Mountbatten was the last Viceroy of British India. In 1947 the partition of Pakistan was inevitable but it resulted in a blood bath. Million was killed, 15 millions were displaced.

Churchill was unsatisfied with Mountbatten's hurry to operate the situation and called it "a shameful flight" which was shown in The Crown.

9. Peter Townsend

Group Captain Peter Townsend was an equerry to King George VI. He indeed had an affair with Princess Margaret, the king's youngest daughter.

A gross fact but may I remind you: he was 33 and she was 17 in 1947 when their romance presumably began. We will discuss it further in later posts.

10. Nazis and the British Royal family

The British Royal family is notorious for its connections to nazis. We are not going to talk about Edward and Wallace (because we will talk about them later), but Prince Philip had four sisters, all of whom married members of the German aristocracy—three of those men became Nazis. One sister, Princess Theodora married Berthold, Margrave of Baden; they tried to keep their distance from Nazism.

His eldest sister, Princess Margarita, married Gottfried, the 8th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg—a German aristocrat who joined the Nazi party and served in World War II. He was involved in Operation Valkyrie, the plot to assassinate Hitler in 1944. 

Princess Cecilie, another sister, married German aristocrat Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse. They joined the Nazis in May 1937, but died in a plane crash months later. At her funeral, Prince Philip marched with their relatives who wore Nazi uniforms.

His youngest sister, Princess Sophie, married Prince Christoph of Hesse, an Oberführer in the Nazi Party and a director in the Third Reich's Ministry of Air Forces. Sophie said in her memoir of Hitler, "I have to say here, that, although Chri [Prince Chrisoph] and I changed our political view fundamentally some years later, we were impressed by this charming and seemingly modest man, and by his plans to change and improve the situation in Germany."

It is worth mentioning that Philip served Britain during World War II and did not himself support the nazi regime.

11. The royal family was against princess Elizabeth's marriage to Philip

It indeed happened but for an unexpected reason. Royal courtiers said that prince Philip "was too funny and had too many gaffes".

12. Lilibet

Lilibet was a nickname for princess Elizabeth. It is said that it was given by Princess Margaret who couldn't pronounce "Elizabeth" at a young age. Now it is prince Harry's daughter name, what a sweet continuity.

i stand corrected: according to this source its origin can be different. Elizabeth used to call herself Lilibet when she was a toddler.

13. Waving

Royalty way much slower than everyone else. This waving is easy to recognise, you've seen it multiple times. It is supposed that this particular style is safer for articulations, and this can be one of the reasons they wave like they do.

14. Princess Elizabeth's passion for filming

Though it is not clear whether she liked filming herself, she was clearly fond of watching clips filmed by her family members as it was shown in "Queen at 90"

15. Princess Margaret smoking habits

Princess Margaret had a reputation of a heavy smoker. Rightfully so, as she could smoke up to 60 cigarettes a day. Allegedly she started smoking in 1952 after the death of her father (she was 21 at the time). Smoking excessively could be a sign of untreated depression and mental health troubles which we will discuss in later posts.

Side note: Margaret's smoking was first noticed in her late teens when she became famous on the party circuit for her turtle shell cigarette holder.

16. King's operation

The operation to remove the lung indeed took place at the Buckingham Palace.

When the King's chest was suspected as the cause of his ill health, Sir John called in Geoffrey Marshall, 64, an expert on lung diseases, and Sir Robert Arthur Young, 80, grand old man of British chest experts. X rays by Radiologist Peter James Kerley and others showed what seemed to be a growth in the left lung. Australian-born Brigadier Sir Thomas Peel Dunhill, 75, who enjoys the title of Sergeant Surgeon to the King, agreed that an operation was necessary. The doctors decided that another Welshman, Chest Surgeon Clement Price Thomas, was the man to do the surgery.

17. Princess Elizabeth's curtsy to her mother and grandmother

A sweet gesture and a nice tradition to show respect which lasts up until this day.

Here is a clip of prince Harry bowing to his grandmother followed by kissing her on both cheeks.

18. Churchill elected the second time

Churchill became PM for a second time on October 26th, 1951. Fun fact: it happened month away from his 77th birthday.

19. Princess Elizabeth's Commonwealth tour

As the following episode will show the prince and the princess were on Commonwealth tour in 1952 when they received the news of king George's VI sudden death. They were in Kenya when it happened.

20. Carolers at Sandringham

Even though I can't find any reliable source about this scene, it is a decent metaphor. The king who learnt he is dying welcomes villagers who offer him a crown.

They sing "In a Bleak Midwinter" which I highly recommend to listen to closely.

The poem was written by an English poet Christina Rosetti.

What can I give Him, Poor as I am? — If I were a Shepherd I would bring a lamb; If I were a Wise Man I would do my part, — Yet what I can I give Him, — Give my heart.

21. Prince Philip and Navy

Prince Philip's naval career began when he was 17. The Duke of Edinburgh’s active naval career ended as a commander in January 1953, after almost 14 years.

Despite his retirement from active service, Prince Philp remained both interested and involved in the Naval Service through official visits, patronage of, and association with, naval charities and clubs.

Useful links:

[blueiskewl]

Philip Townsend Nico

Gelatin silver print, signed and editioned 'AP 1/5' in ink and with the photographer's credit embossed in the margin, circa 1965, printed later, artist's proof no. one from an edition of 50 plus 5 artist's proofs.

Image: 53 by 35.5 cm (20⅞ by 14 in.).

[bargainsleuthbooks]

Royal Sisters: Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret by Anne Edwards #HouseofWindsor #BookReview #AudiobookReview

#RoyalSisters tells the story of #QueenElizabethII and #PRincessMargaret, including the love stories of #PrincePhilip and the future queen and #PeterTownsend and Margaret. #Houseofwindsor #kinggeorgeVI #kingsequerry #BookReview #royalhistory #groupcaptain

In Royal Sisters, Anne Edwards, author of the bestselling Vivien Leigh: A Biography and Matriarch: Queen Mary and the House of Windsor, has written the first dual biography of Elizabeth, the princess who was to become Queen, and her younger sister, Margaret, who was to be her subject. From birth to maturity, they were the stuff of which dreams are made. I’m three and you’re four, the future…

[hedgehog-moss]

"rn I feel like reading about someone's quiet daily life, maybe a diary or letters, set in a place or context I don't know much about, without turmoil or tragedy" oh! do you have any recommendations for books like this?

This is one of my favourite types of books! Here are 30(ish) recs...

May Sarton's The House by the Sea or Plant Dreaming Deep

Gyrðir Elíasson's Suðurglugginn / La fenêtre au sud (not translated into English unfortunately!), also Bergsveinn Birgisson's Landslag er aldrei asnalegt / Du temps qu'il fait (exists in German too)

Gretel Ehrlich's The Solace of Open Spaces, which iirc was originally written as journal entries and letters before being adapted into a book

Kenneth White's House of Tides: Letters from Brittany and Other Lands of the West

Sei Shonagon's Pillow Book

The Diary of a Provincial Lady, E. M. Delafield

Growing Up with the Impressionists: The Diary of Julie Manet

Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von Arnim (do not read if you don't like flowers)

The Road Through Miyama by Leila Philip (I've mentioned it before, it feels like this gif)

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, I keep recommending this one but it's so nice and I love snails

Epicurean Simplicity, Stephanie Mills

The Light in the Dark: A winter journal by Horatio Clare

The Letters of Rachel Henning

The letters of Tove Jansson, also The Summer Book and Fair Play

The diary of Sylvia Townsend Warner—here's an entry where she describes some big cats at the zoo. "Frank and forthcoming, flirtatious carnivores, [...] guttersnipishly loveable"

The Letters of Rachel Carson & Dorothy Freeman were very sweet and a little bit gay. I mostly remember from this long book I read years ago that Rachel Carson once described herself as "retiring into her shell like a periwinkle at low tide" and once apologised to Dorothy because she had run out of apple-themed stationery.

Jane Austen's letters (quoting the synopsis, "Wiser than her critics, who were disappointed that her correspondence dwelt on gossip and the minutiae of everyday living, Austen understood the importance of "Little Matters," of the emotional and material details of individual lives shared with friends and family")

Madame de Sévigné's letters because obviously, and from the same time period, the letters of the Princess Palatine, Louis XIV's sister-in-law. I read them a long time ago and mostly I remember that I enjoyed her priorities. There's a letter where she complains that she hasn't received the sausages she was promised, and then in the next paragraph, mentions the plot to assassinate the King of England and also, the Tartars are walking on Vienna currently.

Wait I found it:

R.C. Sherriff's The Fortnight in September (quoting the author, "I wanted to write about simple, uncomplicated people doing normal things")

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith

Pond, Claire-Louise Bennett

Rules for Visiting, Jessica Francis Kane

The following aren't or aren't yet available in English, though some have already been translated in 5-6 languages:

ツバキ文具店 / La papeterie Tsubaki by ito Ogawa

半島へ / La péninsule aux 24 saisons by Mayumi Inaba

Giù la piazza non c'è nessuno, Dolores Prato (for a slightly more conceptual take on the "someone's everyday life" theme—I remember it as quite Proustian in its meticulousness, a bit like Nous les filles by Marie Rouanet which is much shorter and more lighthearted but shows the same extreme attention to childhood details)

Journal d'un homme heureux, Philippe Delerm, my favourite thing about this book is that the goodreads commenter who gave it the lowest rating complained that Delerm misidentified a wine as a grenache when actually it's a cabernet sauvignon. Important review!

Un automne à Kyôto, Corinne Atlan (I find her writing style so lovely)

oh and 西の魔女が死んだ / L’été de la sorcière by Kaho Nashiki —such a little Ghibli film of a book. There's a goodreads review that points out that Japanese slice-of-life films and books have "a certain way of describing small, everyday actions in a soothing, flawless manner that can either wear you out, or make you look at the world with a temporary glaze of calm contentment and introspective understanding [...]"

I'd be happy to get recommendations in this 'genre' as well :)

[60sfactorygirl]

Charlotte Rampling photographed by Philip Townsend, 1960s.

[philibetexcerpts]

On 23 October 1955, Princess Margaret spent the weekend with the Queen, Prince Philip, and the Queen Mother at Windsor Castle after a tough week discussing her wedding plans with Group Capt. Peter Townsend.

“At one point, with Elizabeth, Philip, Margaret and her mother present, there was an awkward episode when the Queen Mother pathetically said that Margaret hadn’t even thought where they were going to live, whereupon Philip said ‘very sarcastically’ that it was still possible even nowadays to buy a house and the Queen Mother left the room angrily slamming the door.”

Elizabeth: A Biography of Her Majesty the Queen by Sarah Bradford

[thoughtsonhurtandcomfort]

Shun the Light - Ch 13 - The Talk

Slow Burn | Refuge | Decision | Mend | Hunger | Thin Mints | The Garden | Philip | Moments | Full Moon pt 1 | Full Moon pt 2 | Tend | Absolution |

Author's Notes: Just some long overdue conversation~

Content Warnings: werewolf whumpee, vampire caretaker, sprained ankle, recovery, emotional whump

----

One step at a time.

Matteo clings to the railing with both hands. He lowers his good leg first, then follows with his sprained one. His body protests each and every movement, but he persists, intent on reaching the living room. A record is playing low and Dante will be there, reading or drawing or some other hobby.

"Almost there...Almost there..."

"What do you think you're doing?"

He looks up to find Dante standing in the foyer with his hands on his hips. Matteo sighs and sits down on one of the steps.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I can't spend another minute in that bed. I needed a change of scenery."

And some company would be nice.

"You could have called for help. Did you at least take your medicine first?"

"What are you, my mother? Yes, I took it."

Dante gives in and goes to help him up. They make it to the living room without incident, where Dante eases Matteo into a recliner.

"Thank you," Matteo says quietly. He never wants to take the care he's been given for granted.

Once Dante has him settled he goes to the record player and turns the album over. He resets the needle and gentle instrumental music begins to play.

"All of the records are Mr. Townsend's," he says, motioning to a full shelf. "I never got to get my music...or any of my things."

Matteo relaxes into the chair and watches Dante return his spot on the couch and pick up a shirt he is in the process of mending.

"I get that. I didn't take much with me when I left home. And what I did bring I lost during a transformation."

"So...you left home because this happened to you."

"Yeah," Matteo admits quietly. It still hurts to think about. "On my first full moon the wolf wrecked my apartment. I got lucky that the tenant on the lower floor was away that week or god knows what might have happened. After that, I left the landlord most of my money for the damages, sent a letter telling my family I was traveling, and got out. Never looked back."

Dante hardly reacts, but there is a deep sadness growing in his eyes like gathering storm clouds.

"And the one who turned you," he asks carefully, "was it the boyfriend you told me about?"

"Yeah, the bastard. He must have known something would happen - he asked to stay over on the full moon. I never found out why, or why me. Maybe he wanted to kill me, maybe he wanted a...a mate or something." He makes a face at the thought.

Dante silently takes it all in while still working the needle in and out of fabric in a steady motion that's as relaxing to Matteo as the music.

"When it happens," Dante asks after a while, "you don't have any control?"

He sighs. "No. It's like I go to sleep and the wolf takes over. I don't remember a thing the next day - I just wake up with the consequences of whatever it did."

"Like jumping out of a third story window?"

"...no. That was all me."

Dante abruptly stops sewing and turns to stare at him.

"You were right there," Matteo tries to explain. "Another minute and it might have attacked you. I had to do something."

Dante slowly puts the shirt aside and gives Matteo his full attention. "You were protecting me?"

"Well, yeah. You let me stay here. Gave me food. You've been really good to me. I couldn't just let it rip your throat out."

"So you..." Dante almost laughs. "Wow. That was..."

"Stupid?"

"Brave."

Oh.

Matteo blames his post-moon hangover for the stinging in his eyes.

The two fall into a thick but comfortable silence, both reflecting on the things they have said and heard. Dante resumes his sewing and Matteo rests.

By the time Dante speaks again, the final song on the record is fading.

"The house has a fallout shelter. Maybe you can use it next time."

Matteo's heart skips a beat.

"Next time?"

"If you want to stay that long, of course. You can do whatever you want."

The offer is only for him to stay another month, but it's so much more than Matteo dared to hope for.

It takes him a moment to find his voice.

"Okay. Yeah. Yeah, it's worth a shot, right?"

Dante doesn't reply, doesn't look over. If Matteo wasn't watching him so intently he might miss the hint of a smile. But before it can fully take shape, Dante is up and crossing the room to change the record, and the moment is gone.

[thecrownnet]

The Crown: Stellar Cast

Photo: Buzzfeed Nov 14, 2022

Netflix just dropped Season 5 of The Crown... there's a brand new cast of actors playing the royals, continuing the show's tradition of recasting its major roles every two seasons.  ♚

Queen Elizaebeth II (Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, and Imelda Staunton)

Prince Philip (Matt Smith, Tobias Menzies, and Jonathan Pryce)

Princess Margaret (Vanessa Kirby, Helena Bonham Carter, and Lesley Manville)

Peter Townsend (Ben Miles and Timothy Dalton)

Antony Armstrong-Jones, Lord Snowdon (Matthew GoodE and Ben Daniels)

Princess Diana (Emma Corrin and Elizabeth Debicki)

Prince Charles (Josh O'Connor and Dominic West)

Princess Anne (Erin Doherty and Claudia Harrison)

The Queen Mother (Victoria Hamilton, Marion Bailey, and Marcia Warren)

Lord Mountbatten (Greg Wise and Charles Dance)

Duke of Windsor (Alex Jennings and Derek Jacobi as Edward)

Duchess of Windsor (Lia Williams and Geraldine Chaplin)

Camilla Parker Bowles (Emerlad Fennell and Olivia williams)

Prince Andrews (Tom Byrne and James Murray)

Prince Edward (Angus Imrie and Sam Woolf)

Andrew Parker Bowles (Andrew Buchan and Daniel Flynn as Andrew)

[bluesrocknrollingstones]

Andrew n Stones, 1963

Photo Philip Townsend

[myhauntedsalem]

The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall

In 1936 Captain Hubert C. Provand was taking photos of the picturesque Raynham Hall, a country house in Norfolk, England, when he snapped this picture.

As Provand was setting up the shot, his assistant called out for the photo to be taken ‘now’, as something was descending the staircase. The result is this world famous ghost photo, said to be that of Lady Dorothy Walpole.

September 19, 1936: Photographer, Captain Hubert C Provand and his assistant, Indre Shira were taking pictures of Raynham Hall, Norfolk, England for the December issue of ‘Country Life’ Magazine.

Little did they know that on this day they would capture the ghost that has said to be haunting the old country house since the mid 1800’s.

The ghost is better known as the ‘Brown Lady’, as the spectre has been described as wearing a brown silk brocade dress.

It is believed that the Brown Lady is the spirit of Lady Dorothy Walpole, who died at Raynham Hall in 1726 from Smallpox, after a long incarceration within the houses walls.

Dorothy Walpole was the sister of Sir Robert Walpole, who was considered to be the first Prime Minister of Great Britain (serving 1721 to 1742 which would also make him the longest serving Prime Minister). Dorothy was Charles Townsend’s second wife, Charles having served as the secretary of state for ten years.

It is said that Dorothy had an affair with the 1st Duke of Wharton, Philip Wharton (yes all these upper class families make for quite complex reading and research), and her husband, Sir Walpole did not take too kindly to that, and had Dorothy locked in the upper floor rooms of their home – Raynham Hall.

Another story states that Dorothy was entrapped by the Countess of Wharton, never to leave the house… not even to see her children. It is said she returns to find, and finally be reunited with her children. A sad tale indeed!

Either way Lady Dorothy Walpole died of Smallpox 29th March 1726 aged forty.

The Brown Lady aka (possibly) Lady Dorothy Walpole has been seen on a number of occasions since her death, with the first recorded sighting being in 1835 after a Christmas party. Several guests had seen the ghost as they went up to their bedrooms for the evening, one describing it as having a glowing face but with empty eye sockets.

Captain Marryat (a gentleman who wrote novels set out at sea) retired to his room one night, and had remarked to two others he met on the way that he was carrying a gun as protection against the Brown Lady. It was at this point the apparition appeared and ‘diabolically’ grinned at the captain as she passed by him.

The captain took two shots, both passing straight through the apparition, to embed in the door and door frame beyond.

Many other people have witnessed the Brown Lady on the main staircase and in the bedrooms. Generally these sightings occur when heading to bed, or waking up in the middle of the night to find her standing in their rooms.

The ghost has also been seen right before tragic events and deaths that affect the Townsend Family. One evening, during a dinner party, many guests had seen the apparition, complete with her brown dress, walking through the crowd. The Spectre did not seem to recognize anyone and soon disappeared. The next morning, news of the death of George Walpole reached the group at the estate, George had died at about the same time the Brown Lady has been seen.

On the fateful day the photo was taken, Captain Hubert C Provand and his assistant Indre Shira had set up the camera at the foot of the main staircase, with Provand under the protective cloth at the back of the camera. They had already taken one photo and Provand was re framing for another shot. Shira suddenly called out to Provand to take another shot and at this Provand removed the lens cover and made the exposure.

Shira had seen the figure of a lady descend the staircase when he called for the photo to be taken. Upon development, the image did indeed show a spectral figure on the staircase; The Brown Lady had been captured at last!

The picture was published in Country Life magazine December 16th 1936, along with the accounts of Provand and Shira.

Renowned paranormal investigator Harry Price interviewed the two men and stated he could not find a flaw in their story, as the negative also showed the figure. With the exception of the two men lying, he could not see how the image could be anything but that of the ghost in question.

[mermaidsirennikita]

i'm rewatching the crown s5 and god the charles propaganda is working over time. i didn't even realize how heavy handed it was at the time because i was too much in shock over how bad the season was but they really're pushing how modern and progressive he is! look at all the good work he has done! poor charles diana and the press are so mean to him :( the tampon gate episode literally ends with him breakdancing with some kids (???) with text saying how many people he has helped with his charity work. pray tell what brand of crack cocaine was peter morgan smoking?

I honestly have no idea, dude. Because if you were to ask me beforehand, I would've said:

Season 1--Great TV, if a little more conventional than other seasons; dominated by EXTREMELY good and character-setting performances across the board (I feel like Peter Townsend was the only semi-major player who didn't stand out, but in s2 it became very clear that Townsend being boring was The Point). Jared Harris wasn't even a true lead and he made me cry multiple times. Claire and Matt (and I say this as someone who generally doesn't care for Matt Smith) are superb. Lithgow? Knocked it out with a VERY well-known personality who's been played by other major actors. Vanessa Kirby? A definitive Margaret. Elizabeth gives Philip the ol' kneel and deliver. Amazing.

Season 2--Probably the best season of the show (even if the Kennedy episode was.... bad.... I feel like every one of the first four seasons has an episode that isn't great and is kind of totally out of step with the rest, and now I realize it was a harbinger of doom). Makes you root for a pair of objectively horrible people in an objectively miserable (if oddly loving...?) marriage. Matthew Goode shows up and does 60s excellence with Vanessa Kirby. No major standout PM performances on a Lithgow, but still, really good ones. (And I've come to realize ever since s5 and s6 dropped the ball--getting really good actors to play the PMs and seeing random glimpses of their lives was such a mainstay of the first four seasons, omg. HOW IS TONY BLAIR SO BORING???? WE KNOW THIS JACKASS.) Philip almost does a murder suicide with tiny Charles in that plane. It's GREAT.

Season 3--I wasn't as big a fan at first, but it's aged into a really solid season of TV. I think it took Olivia, who I think is one of the greatest actresses working right now so this isn't shade, a while to feel comfortable in the role. Tobias Menzies was immediately fab casting, though; I don't think I've ever seen a less than good performance from him, tbh. Helena Bonham-Carter isn't as good as Vanessa, but still entertaining and fun; and while Tony is not nearly as good in this season, he's barely there. BUT even if it's not the strongest season, you get Josh O'Connor and he is SO. AMAZINGLY. GOOD. He turns an awkward community theater performance by Charles into this intense monologue (was Charles that good an actor? No but who cares). He talks wistfully about how he'll only get a life after his mom like, dies in a helicopter crash or something. "mUMMY I HAVE A VOICE"/"NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR IT" hands down best Olivia line reading of the season if not her entire tenure on the show.

Season 4--Fabulous TV, dials up the soap opera drama, Emma Corrin is a perfect young Diana and Josh gets into his full bag as Charles. Olivia sets this tone between total unfeeling frost and a weird goofy humor that leads to the frankly hysterical "DO I have a favorite kid???" episode, where we don't know that it's Andrew but we kNOW. It's Andrew. The sense of doom builds up. Gillian Anderson devours as Margaret Thatcher. The ending with the cameras going off as we pull in on Emma Corrin's teary reflective eyes after Diana is lowkey??? Threatened???? By Philip???? Much more affecting than Diana's literal death in s6.

Yeah, man. I don't know. Peter has always very clearly been a royalist to me, but he seemed for a long time like a royalist more focused on Elizabeth and his fascination with and vast empathy for her. Charles... always got a sympathetic enough edit, sure, but in the sense that you got WHY he's such an emotionally deficient doorknob. Season 4 portrays him as outright emotionally abusive and? Tbh? Surprisingly predatory. That's something I think gets glossed over a lot. But Peter doesn't make Charles devoid of physical attraction to Diana, which I think a lot of takes on this story do. And he wasn't devoid of attraction to her. There were brief bright spots in their early marriage where Diana as much as said she couldn't keep him off her (and this was Charles so that was probs like thrice a week I dunno). There's been a lot of speculation that he and Diana DID sleep together before their wedding day; it wasn't this sterile thing it's often depicted as, at least not always.

And I think that the perceived sterility of the relationship has led some to overlook the fact that Diana got engaged to him before she was 20. She met him when she was underage and he was dating her sister. The Crown SHOWED that. Josh O'Connor PLAYED IT like Charles was checking out a 16 year old girl while he was all of 28 and about to go out with her sister within minutes. It's so deliberate? I don't know why anyone would ever be able to... not get it. So we go from that to "well yeah he had this awkward moment with his mistress, but everyone actually saw it as two people being in love" which just isn't historically accurate lmao. Charles and Camilla still get dogged out by that to this day. And look, I'm not judging what people are into--I more so judge the nature of the relationship in terms of how it pertained to, I don't know, his wife and kids, and this idea that people were NOT weirded out by it at the time lmao. Even people who aren't actively against Charles... the vast majority don't see him as this GREAT CHARISMATIC CHANGEMAKER lmao. Unless you're writing a biography of him in which he's feeding you sources.

I mean, I'll give credit where credit is due--he does seem genuinely into environmentalism, even if that's subsequently contradicted by his actions (though perhaps not as badly as is the case with Wills). He apparently dislikes Trump. Cool! But lol, this idea that Charles was really changing the world by like... doing charity work... that all royals do...................... Topped off by breakdancing......

It's SO cringe. I don't know if Peter got threats lmao. I don't know if he saw how much he made the audience hate the royals in s4 and went "oh no, that wasn't my intent" (and I will say--I do think that actors can affect things here; I don't get the sense from Josh's interviews that he is, ah, into Charles as a person, and maybe he went harder because of that) and tried to course correct...?

But he clearly made a huge change and it's such a bummer because the 90s are arguably some of the most interesting years for the Windsors and he just kind of flushed them down the drain. And he also got a perfect older Diana casting and wasted her.

[meret118]

When the Great Depression struck America in the 1920s finding work was hard, but if you were poor and Black it was virtually impossible. Working as a porter for the Pullman Rail Company was an option, but it meant taking home a third as much as white employees and working some days for free. You could forget about being called by your real name — all Black porters were simply called “George” after George Pullman.

Asa Philip Randolph, a Black journalist and socialist trying to establish a voice for these forgotten workers, agrees to fight for the Pullman porters’ cause and form the first black union in America. Livelihoods and lives would be put at risk in the attempt to gain 10,000 signatures of the men known only as “George.” This is the true story of how a courageous leader came to be known as “the most dangerous man in America.”